Self Esteem
by MilkyLollipops
Summary: Sakura degrades herself for not stopping her teammates from attacking each other. Follows after chapter 698. Contains spoilers. SasuSaku. NaruSaku friendship.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and it's characters.

**Title: **Self esteem

**Summary: **Sakura degrades herself for not stopping her teammates from attacking each other. Follows after chapter 698. Contains spoilers.

**Rating:** K+

**Words:** 1896

**Warning: **contains blood but nothing too gory.

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_~'Cause I've seen love die way too many times~_  
><em>When it deserved to be alive<em>  
><em>I've seen you cry way too many times<em>  
><em>When you deserve to be alive<em>

_-Paramore_

It had been years since he had poured out his emotions so freely. He had smiled, laughed... and _even_ cried.

Odd... isn't it? It was very unusual for Sasuke Uchiha to show such emotions.

After all... he doesn't smile and laugh. So it was quite extraordinary.

As for crying... when was the last time he cried?

Oh... that's right. When he found out the truth about Itachi. He always thought that his older brother was his worst enemy and hated him for killing his parents and rest of their relatives. But in reality... all Itachi wanted for Sasuke to be happy. But how could Sasuke be happy when his brother suffered all these years?

But that wasn't the point.

Sasuke had bottled up his pain and emotions for too long... and now he felt as if it was the right time to pour them out. After all... he and Naruto are going to die soon. But that didn't worry him. Instead the young Uchiha smiled and stared at the blue sky as tears rolled down his temples.

Besides, there was no point fighting death. This is what Sasuke deserves in the end. To rot on the dirty ground and be forgotten. Seems that after committing so many sins he finally gets punished.

But Naruto...

The raven haired boy glanced to his left to see the blonde who as well was staring at the blue sky.

He truly pitied Naruto. The blonde had always wanted to become the hokage but now he probably never will achieve his goal.

In fact the blonde didn't deserve any of this. He was a hero. A hero who had saved his friends, his own village countless times and shouldered many burdens.

Naruto had also many friends who were there for him and cheered on him. Even the villagers who used to hate him now adored the knucklehead.

And then, after finding out about Naruto's death, everyone would probably mourn and cry for him while cursing the young Uchiha.

And it was all thanks to Sasuke's jealousy and greediness for power. If only he had listened to Kakashi and Sakura...

His sensei was right all those years ago. Revenge would only bring emptiness and numbness.

And, like his only female teammate said, revenge wouldn't make anyone happy.

That's how he felt when he killed Itachi. He obviously didn't feel happy. He felt _empty_ and _numb_.

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Sakura panted heavily as she ran towards the place where the explosion had occurred last night. As she continued to make her way, the girl couldn't help but feel something gnawing inside of her.

After she had woken up, the pinkette immediately wanted to make her way towards her boys but Kakashi-sensei had forbid her to go interfere.

_"Kakashi-sensei! We have got to stop Sasuke-kun and Naruto!"_

_Pleading._

_"No."_

_Bewilderment._

_"W-what?"_

_Sigh._

_"Sakura. It's obvious that there is nothing we can do at this point."_

_Gasp._

_"B-but Kakashi-sensei! W-what if they k-kill each other!? What if-"_

_"Sakura, I already told you – no. We will only get in their way._

_...and might even hurt ourselves in process."_

They had argued for some time until Sakura gave out a defeated sigh and agreed with her sensei. It was only wise for her to listen to someone who had experienced more than she did. Afterward, the girl had fallen asleep because she was too exhausted both physically and mentally. She had fought in a war for some time and witnessed a lot of unusual things.

As for Kakashi... Sakura left him because he was still asleep as well when she had woken up and didn't want to disturb him.

After finding out Sasuke's true intentions, the pinkette felt very heart broken. It was awful to know that her only love was slipping even deeper in the darkness.

But then she shook her head.

No. Sakura still had to save him. She promised Naruto that she would help him to bring Sasuke back!

The girl started to run faster towards her destination as her feet were hitting against the stony ground. While moving, she noticed a lot of scattered rocks and stones.

Sakura then stopped and took a huge breath from running. She glanced around and checked her surrounds to see if there were any signs of her precious teammates. Her eyes surveyed the area until they landed on something. The girl's emerald eyes slightly widened.

She was in the Valley of the End, the pinkette noticed, but the place was completely destroyed. Even the first hokage and Madara's heads were laying on the ground.

...just what the heck happened here?

She continued to walk around to see any traces of Sasuke and Naruto and called out to them from time to time.

"Sasuke-kun...? Naruto...?"

No answer.

Sakura slowly proceeded through the destroyed place as she stared at her feet. Both of them had to be okay... right?

She just hoped _nothing_ bad happened to them...

The pinkette raised her head and stopped in her tracks.

Her eyes widened in horror and the sight before her almost made her heart stop.

Sakura's breathing became heavier.

In front of her were Sasuke and Naruto.

Both of them were covered in blood and bruises and were lying on the ground like rag dolls peacefully. In other words... they looked _awful_.

But that wasn't the reason why the girl was terrified.

It is because both had one of their arms cut off.

Sakura couldn't support her weigh anymore and fell on her knees while tears had formed in her eyes and were threatening to stream down her face.

"How..." she whispered quietly to her self, "How could this have happened?"

Her boys... her precious boys...

Were dead.

Naruto. Her faithful brother-like teammate and her best friend.

Sasuke-kun. Her teammate and her first love.

...were now gone.

The girl was trembling. This wasn't happening, she repeated to herself. This wasn't happening...

THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!

And then she broke down.

"Why!" she wailed loudly and sobbed as tears were flowing down her cheeks, "Why did this have to happen!"

They were so precious to her and always prayed for them to be okay... so why! Why did they have to die!

"It should have been me!" she yelled out loudly as she hit the hard ground with her fists, "I was the one who was supposed to die, not them!"

The girl then crawled up to them and placed her hands above their bodies. She felt chakra flicker in her hands and started to heal afterward.

Sakura knew they were dead... but at least she could hope. Hope that they would wake up and then be together with them... forever.

But that only happened in fairy tales. Only in fairy tales everyone was happy in the end. But this was reality. World where evil loomed in every corner. And besides... fairy tales don't exist.

"They were supposed to live and be happy..." Sakura hoarsely whispered to herself, "Naruto was supposed to achieve his dream and become the hokage... and Sasuke-kun... he was supposed to come back home with us..."

She then turned her head to look at the raven haired boy...

He looked so peaceful... and he was smiling.

...it looks like Sasuke finally found peace.

The pinkette continued to heal them for some time so she could stop the bleeding (even though she knew she shouldn't bother). After a while, her arms fell limply to her side and she stared at the sky.

She had failed... yet again.

Sakura hung her head low and saw her tears drip on ground. She didn't even bother to stop them. What was the point if she did anyway? One of her most precious people were dead.

"I should have ignored Kakashi-sensei..." she sobbed to herself, "I should have stopped them while I had a chance. And maybe died." the pinkette then gave out a bitter laugh, "I mean... who needs such a pathetic and useless weakling like me? I can't do anything right. I always mess up..."

She then started to wail louder and pressed her face to the ground along with her hands and sobbed.

Suddenly the girl gasped as she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Sakura lifted herself up from the ground and saw Naruto in front of her and... he was grinning.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said.

The girl's eyes widened as new fresh tears started to form. Without a warning she then tackled Naruto to the ground and hugged him.

"Naruto! Oh my god! Naruto! You are okay!" she cried out happily.

The pinkette was so happy to see Naruto and the way he always grinned. She definitely couldn't live without his grin and smile.

"Uhh... Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"...you are squeezing me too hard."

"Oh!" and Sakura jumped off of him while rubbing her head and smiling sheepishly.

But wait... what about Sasuke...

Sakura turned her head towards the Uchiha and he was leaning on his arm while staring at her blankly. She cast her eyes downwards. He was probably annoyed by the fact she was here...

She then looked at him again from the corner of her eye and saw that his arm was bleeding.

"Sasuke-kun, you are bleeding!" she exclaimed. The pinkette then mentally scolded herself for not healing him properly as she sat down on the ground. She placed her hands above his damaged arm and green chakra emitted from her hands.

After few minutes she was done and the girl placed her hands on her lap.

"All done," she spoke to herself.

Sakura then noticed that Sasuke was looking at her and she looked back at him confused. And then the young Uchiha smirked.

"Hn. You are annoying."

Sigh. Of course the pinkette was an annoyance to Sasuke and she wasn't shocked or surprised when she heard him say that. She actually expected that. Sakura then looked at her hands and muttered, "I am sorry..."

She then felt an arm wrap around her and Sakura was shocked to see Sasuke so close to her.

He then softly smiled at her (just like he did before) and Sakura thought it was the cutest smile she had ever seen.

"But thank you... for being."

And the next action surprised Sakura very greatly. The Uchiha leaned in and pressed his lips (which were very cold) to her cheek. Sakura then blushed heavily and turned to look away from being embarrassed.

She mumbled under her breath, "Your welcome..."

But the girl felt happy nonetheless. Maybe there was a hope...

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura turned her head towards the blonde who looked pretty serious and concered.

He then crawled slowly towards them and once the boy was next to the pinkette, he spoke, "Listen, Sakura-chan. Me and Teme heard how you were degrading yourself and telling yourself that you are weak and useless. Sakura, I don't know where did you get that kind of idea that you are not worth it... but to me and Sasuke... you mean everything. We are your family, you know."

After hearing Naruto's words, Sakura's smile widened and she felt warmth in her chest. She then wrapped her arm around Naruto and stared ahead.

Now she definitely had hope. Hope for a happy ending and new beginning.

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_"...Sasuke-kun?"_

_"Hn?"_

_"...I think you should smile more."_

_"...why?"_

_"Because your smile is cute."_

_Blush._

_"Tch. Shut up."_

**I am sorry if this sucked (and it probably did). Basically I wrote this one-shot because I got inspired by chapter 698. I literally screamed when I saw the last page.**

**Yeah... I am weird. Lol**

**As for Sasuke... I am sorry if he is OOC. But I don't think he is OOC because he smiled, laughed and cried in the last chapter. He even bickered with Naruto. :D**

**Agh. Good times, good times.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Bye~!**

**~MilkyLollipops**


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